The Manlius Town Board voted to adopt a local law that would override the tax cap set by New York State, which is currently at a .74 percent tax rate increase in Manlius.
According to Manlius Town Attorney Tim Frateschi, many municipalities choose to do this before budget season as a safeguard against possible penalties that would occur if the town were to override the tax cap when the tax rate was set.
The New York State property tax cap was put in place by Governor Cuomo to limit rising taxes at the local government level at 2 percent or the rate of inflation. Manlius Supervisor Ed Theobald said this year the tax rate cap would be at about .74 percent. The tax cap has decreased dramatically since last year, with a tax cap of 1.56 percent for the 2015 budget, he said.
Town Councilor Nicholas Marzola added that penalties for going over the tax cap without a local law to override it would go against the tax base.
“It’s a measure to cover ourselves in case other costs in the town grow,” said Marzola. “We don’t want to have to pay any penalties, which will go toward the tax base … The town board will continue to work diligently to stay under the tax cap.”
This matter was put to a public hearing, which was held at the Sept. 9 town board meeting. One resident, Dorothy Money, of Fayetteville, voiced her concerns about overriding the tax cap.
“Many tax payers are not in favor of money flowing in so it can just be spent,” said Money. “There are ways for the town to cut on personnel costs.”
Theobald said there are many parts of the budget that the town has little control over, such as state mandates, healthcare costs and pensions, and that voting to do this would act as a “safety valve” in case they find they did need to go above the tax cap during the budget process.
“Many municipalities do this each year as a safety measure,” said Theobald.
The town board voted unanimously, with Councilor John Loeffler absent, to adopt a local law that would allow the town to go over the tax cap.
Also at the meeting, the board discussed a zone change request for Shining Stars Daycare, on 4581 Ender Road, to change the eastern portion of the property to a Commercial A zone while leaving the Route 92 frontage as residential multiple. The owners of the property announced their desire to expand the daycare and also have a gym available for its use. The board referred the matter to the planning board for recommendations.
